The Ashes of a Battle
by brutalfreeze
Summary: What happens after Naraku is destroyed? SessRin.


_Rin hadn't noticed until the last second; one of Naraku's multiple arms had inched its way toward her and touched the side of her foot. Before she could blink, something like a silver shadow had dashed in front of her and attacked the arm. A creature as large as a small volcano about to erupt with the ferocious growls tearing out of its throat. White fur the pure color of stars covered its massive body, a mass of pelt bunched on his left shoulder. He still had the same crystal wintry smell like the clarity of the first snow. He was always graceful and proud like a statue, but like this he seemed to be a god with strength beyond anything she had ever known._

_It was the first time Rin had ever seen Sesshoumaru in his true form. She realized then that the great Sesshoumaru had cowered in front of her as if protecting a loved one. He had completely blocked her from view behind a mammoth wall of his furred muscle._

_Naraku's laugh seemed more like a serpent's hiss, with an echoing bad aftertaste of fear following. Although she was seventeen she wanted to cling to Sesshoumaru's leg._

"_Protecting humans now, Sesshoumaru? That is beneath you."_

"_You know nothing," Sesshoumaru growled in his rumbling demonic form._

_Inuyasha had shouted something coy and provoking, but Rin's ears were all for Sesshoumaru. _

_Hope had seemed dismal but Rin couldn't help but feel warmth in her being as Sesshoumaru stayed close, deflecting all shots aimed at her and Sesshoumaru. Always there._

_The onslaught of attacks Naraku inflicted was accurate and fierce. Enough to wound Sesshoumaru..._

---

Rin awoke from the dream startled and shivering. As the edge of the dream wore off, the frosted remnants of winter air settled in. She stoked the fire, provoking the flame, and the fire finally shivered and poked its head out.

"Rin."

Lord Sesshoumaru's voice had shocked her into a gasp. Rin's gentle, laughing brown eyes turned to her guardian.

His hair fell across his bare chest like falling stars had paused mid-fall and sat upon his godly head. In the firelight, his eyes burned red and intense, the way they had appeared in his full true form. Rin shivered, from more than just the cold wind.

"You are cold," Sesshoumaru observed, seeming unaffected by the arctic wind rattling the knobby barren trees.

"Yes, my lord," Rin confirmed. "May I look at your wounds?"

For a moment he was silent and Rin took the quiet as a sign of affirmation and moved to sit beside the demon. She stood over him.

"No."

The sharpness was just as unnerving as his voice had been when he had called her name. Rin's eyes stung with the ferocity of it.

Sesshoumaru's eyes shut and he told her, "You should sleep. We leave early."

Obediently Rin slunk over to her blankets. She curled into a fetal ball and closed her eyes, wondering, _Did I offend lord Sesshoumaru when I reminded him of being injured?_

A pair of golden eyes softened while studying her form, a bestial yearning tugging at his innards.

She was a woman and yet she did not know it. She had bloomed into a flower, smelling of life. Her awkwardness had shaped into grace—at least grace for a human—her hips and breasts had filled and her kimono and hair was worn longer, the hair gathered on one side with a comb of silver he had commissioned for her. A crescent moon and flowers had been carved into the handle.

_I am not Father,_ Sesshoumaru thought bitterly. His eyes hardened once more as he shoved down the primitive yearning. But his gaze lingered on her shape silhouetted by the fire before he finally dozed off.

---

The next morning, as soon as dawn had broke the horizon and spilled light and warmth onto Rin's face, Rin stood quietly after peeking at the resting lord Sesshoumaru and the snoring Jaken and Ah-Un. She tip-toed to Sesshoumaru's side with a damp, medicine-soaked cloth in her hand, noting how peaceful he seemed in his dreams.

Swiftly she glanced over all the injuries. A gash on the left side of his face and one leg broken. The other injuries were concealed beneath his clothes. Her hands moved to press the cloth to the gash on his face first, beginning with his mouth.

A death grip stopped her from touching his face with the cloth, the clawed fingers millimeters away from slicing her flesh open.

"What are you doing, Rin?"

"Master Sesshoumaru is hurt. Rin just wants to help." Rin indicated the cloth.

Rin's jaw was set defiantly, even though he knew she would do anything he asked. Sesshoumaru said nothing else.

Gently she pressed the soft material to his forehead, deciding to begin at a less personal place. He watched her without blinking as her eyes fell to his. They seemed to be sparkling like water over the earth. His eyes glowed like the sun just before it sets and brings the night.

A blush crept up her face under the force of his stare. Never before had she blushed under Sesshoumaru's gaze. Perhaps she just felt inadequate in comparison to his beauty.

She slid the cloth closer to his mouth, her gaze drawn to his lips. They looked soft, maybe as soft as the fur thrown over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, lord Sesshoumaru. If you didn't need to protect me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt," Rin uttered sincerely.


End file.
